Porno & Chill… With My Kids?!
Associate Professor Daniel Fung, chief executive of the Institute of Mental Health has come under some scrutiny recently over his remarks pertaining to children’s internet usage and pornography.
While speaking at a webinar in conjunction with Safer Internet Day 2022, he suggested that parents should consider discussing pornography with their children with the motive of making them understand its detriments early. This opinion was raised in light of how exposure to inappropriate content has become much harder to gate keep, especially with the prevalence of digital devices today.
Pornography was singled out as being one of the key concerns due to its easy accessibility and coupled with the tingling curiosity that rages within the young, the long term damages can be really daunting if not addressed early. Prof Fung noted that pornography not only sows improper values and slanted perspectives of relationships, but it can also rapidly evolve to become a source of addiction.
Prof Fung’s views have triggered a flurry of online criticism and the outcome should have come as no surprise considering the sensitive nature of the matter.
Some Facebook users went the extra mile to expand upon Prof Fung’s comments to further ridicule them, citing gambling, smoking and drinking amongst other activities that parents can also indulge in with their children as a means to educate.
Despite the vast amounts of spite from netizens, Prof Fung did have a handful of netizens who sympathized with him. Implying that every child is different with different learning capacities, these people expressed their belief in the power of dialogue and reason.
Of course, what is an article on pornography without a token Johnny Sins comment?
Amidst the widespread online condemnation towards Dr Fung’s comments, let us take a step back to survey the landscape and uncover an alternative perspective to all the outrage.
At the very least, we can collectively agree that to quite a large extent, there are some positives in the form of the masses feeling very uncomfortable about exposing children to pornography, let alone watch it with them. At the very least, all the condemnation would have revealed that as adults, a very healthy percentage of us are still sound in our moral compass and that we understand the gravity of the issue.
However, the hesitance to address the issue of internet usage amongst children cannot be left to simmer.
Every parent needs to be responsible enough to know their own children and understand each of their capacities. Every parent needs to understand the gravity of unhealthy online activity and how the side effects can be prolonged to irreparable outcomes.
Therefore, every parent needs to embrace their pivotal role and address these issues at first sight.
And no, you do not need to resort to watching pornography with your children.
Reporter’s Opinions: Damn, I was really looking forward to having kids – perhaps a couple of them.
It would have been great to raise my own child. It would have been wonderful to experience parenthood with my significant other and make some really memorable moments. It would have been incredible to witness them blossom into fine adults.
Oh, not to mention, it would have been patriotic of me to contribute to my country’s fertility rate.
But now, I’m having second thoughts.
I guess I’ll just adopt a couple of them in the metaverse.
Listen to Plan B’s Podcast this week!
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